This is 3Bits & Change, an email about building a service and retail business. This one was written to the sounds of construction.
New unique kitchen tools from skilled craftsmen in the shop!
Each was crafted in collaboration with the markers. On to their stories —>
//no.1 - Alfredo’s ONE!
Two years ago at Blade in Atlanta, I saw a clean faceted knife made of Magnacut, an American steel, on a table. Turns out a joy infused Italian crafted it in a Japanese shape Northwest of Venice Italy.
I ordered 10 but had no idea I was the first to order, nor that Alfredo did not yet know how to finish them in quantity. More from his perspective here.
Turns out our local abrasives manufacturer Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, 3M, makes the belts Alfredo ultimately landed on for this production knife. It’s been fantastic to follow their story as they came into existence. Thanks Alfredo!
Here is a video of a prototype I picked up last June.
And now, 15 months from the original order (typical :) ), we have 10 of these very unique kitchen tools in shop in Edina Minnesota. Most of them have a very complimentary handle shape for a pinch grip (we had them crafted to spec to the mm).
Interesting? Jump on one for you or someone you’ll need a gift for. These are all 1:1. Josh, one of our part-time team members, works a pro kitchen and give one of these a run for three days recently. He loved it. The magnacut held an edge the whole time. Such a fantastic steel. And, the shape made draw strokes on carrots a joy, etc.
//no.2 - Baldwins in Fall Colors
I had this idea… “What if knife handles had the colors of the season?” You know… like fashion.
Matt was the first to hear the idea and act on it and got to work crafting these from his shop in the Chicagoland area.
Check out his AEBL Kiritsuke and Santoku shapes that recently arrived in Edina here.
There is more to this story coming soon. Standby. It’ll be tres beaux.
//no.3 - Bunka from Running Man
The bunka (boon-ka) shape has become a favorite shape in our shop. It’s a versital knife in that it has a high blade height but a detail oriented front. It’s not “too long” that some are intimidated by it, etc. Lots of reasons. Anyway, we went looking for more bunkas.
I picked a few of Justin’s bunka’s up from industry contact and loved them. So, we ordered some more.
They arrived and they’re equally lovely. We have the Kuro version, or the black “knife makers” finish with a Tsuchime, or “hand hammered” texture on the blade. We also have the Honyaki version with the smooth hand sanded wonderful. And to round out the order we received some mustard finished Kiritsukes too.
A video of a few can be found here.
Sum
When I set out to build a unique collection of kitchen tools from around the world (not just the western traditions) I had little understanding about the complexity I’d find in the process. Finding, specing and buying these are more involved than I had originally imagined. However, I’ve found delightful collaborators and I’m getting better at this too!
Here’s to exciting collaborations! More coming!
These are all 1:1. Grab a gift for yourself or a loved one before someone else grabs the ones you have your eyes on. #thumbsup
Change
The bus stop we were promised would take 5 weeks to build is going into it’s 12 week of construction. Just one layer of tar remains before work can switch to the other side of the road. We’re now told that stop will be done by Nov 1st. I’ll take the over. You?
With school back in session, families back in town and our major East/West traffic patterns on 50th street back open, we’re seeing more walking traffic at the shop. That’s good news. Yet, we have a long long way to go before we’re running the business we had built up in June.
On Your Way
Cheers to the changing seasons. Take a walk. Take special account to how blue the sky is. Enjoy!
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